Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XII​

Date: 119-993
Place: Alief System, Linkworlds Cluster, Ley Sector.

0900 hours.

"5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . Returning to normal space now," chants Vargas as the Bray Keaven leaves jump space and emerges in the Alief system. As the sensors regain their bearings, they show the rest of the fleet scattered within 10 thousand klicks and that Alief itself is 102 planetary diameters away. "Pretty good, all things considered," Argent thinks to himself.

Almost immediately, the comm system starts blaring a message on the alert channel: "Alief is under strict quarantine in addition to the normal Red Zone quarantine. All ships transiting through the Urlainn refueling depot may proceed normally. Any ships approaching Alief must stop for inspection. Any ship approaching within 80 planetary diameters without inspection will be intercepted and destroyed. Any ship departing Alief must hold for quarantine isolation and inspection for seven days. Any ship departing Alief beyond 10 planetary diameters without inspection and quarantine will be destroyed."

Looking up from his scanners, Vargas comments, "Well, that explains our welcoming committee. There is one 1,000–ton Urassigaruu class escort destroyer, a Gazelle class close escort, two cutters, and six fighters inbound. These guys mean business."

After a beat, the comm system squawks another message, this one from the Marquis’ ship, "Seri’s Dagger to Bray Keaven. Hold position and wait for inspection. We’re currently negotiating with the surviving picket commander as to how we can best help. Sit tight. Since you’re the last to arrive, you’re currently fourth for inspection by the second cutter. Estimated time of inspection is 1500. Will send more information as we get it. Seri’s Dagger out."

Argent acknowledges the transmission and then keys the internal comm. "If you aren’t monitoring the comm system, we’ve arrived in Alief system OK, and it appears that the rest of the fleet is OK, too. We’re holding for inspection in about six hours. No word yet on what we’ll be doing. Martha and Swann? Since we have some time, do you think that we can get one of the spare weapons in that empty turret? I wouldn’t suggest trying to zero and calibrate the targeting systems, but we might have enough time to at least do the external installation."

Argent continues, "Meanwhile, we do need to prepare for the inspection. I doubt that we’ll want to tick off the Marines, so we need to decide how to handle this little visit."

-----​

Upon emergence into normal space, Martha begins following standard protocols, checking on the thrusters as well as running a post–emergence diagnostic on the jump drives. Her work is interrupted by the Captain’s announcement.

"Sir, do you think it’d be a good idea to mount weapons before we’ve been inspected, when the inspectors might get nervous and take some serious offense to us pointing weapons at them here in a Red Zone and all that? I’d recommend at least letting them know our intentions and getting permission before doing so. I’m good with these engines, but I don’t think I can fix them once the ship’s destroyed by some trigger-happy interdiction zone inspector." Martha awaits his response, doing some quick calculations in her head. It should take about two hours of outside work to get the weapons physically installed, another two hours of internal and electrical work, followed by another two hours to zero the targeting calibrations.

Swann enters the engine room just in time to hear Martha’s response to Argent. After she finishes he smiles at her and says, "Don’t worry, Martha. The interdiction ships know we’re part of the rescue mission, carrying valuable relief supplies. They aren’t going to start shooting at us, even if we do start messing around with our weapons. Grab some tools and give me a hand, and we’ll get this finished in no time."

Swann walks over to the intercom and calls Argent. "Captain, this is Swann. I think getting the weapons installed on the port side is a great idea. Martha and I will get right on it. We’ll install the laser and get as much done as we can before the inspection team arrives. But it wouldn’t hurt to let them know what we’re up to.

"Meanwhile, I suggest we dump the explosives and detonator out of the airlocks, then goose the thrusters a touch so we’ll drift away from them, and they won’t be so noticeable. And you might want to get in radio contact with whoever’s in charge of this relief armada and fill him in on the situation."

-----​

Vasilii, upon learning of the emergence into real space heads to main cargo. "In order to have a quick inspection, all things must be listed and accounted for," he says to himself. Vasilii prepares documents for the cargo (with no mention of Star Flowers or explosives, though).

-----​

Groaning, Ian gets up and heads to the cargo bay. "Better make sure it all looks ship–shape. It should be cursory given what we are here for but we don’t want to catch any needless flak that would slow down the rescue mission."

At the bay he surveys the boxes, nods to Vasilii, and holds out his hand for the proffered cargo list, then turns to hit the intercom. "McConnell to Bridge. Don’t forget to call the bomb squad. I mean, installing weapons on the outside and putting booby traps in the airlock might just be construed as VERY unfriendly. For my two cents, go ahead and install the starship weapons. It’s not like we pose a threat to those combat monsters floating around out there, and we are underarmed if we are going to land and deliver stuff to a desperate, infected mob. Out."

He smiles back at Vasilii. "Better armed to the teeth than no arms and no teeth! Where do you want to start?"

-----​

Saro groans as his sleep is interrupted by the intercom announcement. Three days working in the airlock and nothing. "I guess it is good that there is no contagion onboard, but still . . . I wish I could have come up with something that I could study."

Sighing, Doc swings his legs over the side of his bed and sits for a moment, willing himself awake. "Six hours, huh? I guess I better go make sure the sick bay is all ship–shape and make sure the list of medical supplies aboard is all ready to be checked out."

Singing a peppy little pop tune by the Teks-Meks, Doc pops into the shower, gets dressed up in a clean coverall and sets out for the lounge for a quick bite before heading to the sick bay.

-----​

Vargas puts the console he was at on standby and climbs out of the co–pilot’s seat. "Boss, I’m going back to engineering. We’ve used up our one good jump and if things are as bad as they say down there", he indicates the planet through the bridge canopy, "I want to make sure as many systems as possible stay lit when we need them."

 

[Shadowdancer]

Argent listens carefully as Martha, Swann, and Ian express their opinions on the idea of installing one of the weapons in the port turret, then replies, "You bring up a very good point, Martha. We will inform the reception picket about our intentions. Depending on what has been happening, they may be a bit trigger happy. I hadn’t planned on asking you to work on the power connections or targeting system calibration — which would certainly alarm them — just yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe. In the meantime, will you go ahead and suit up, and make any other preparations until I give you a yay or nay?

"Mr. McConnell? Please suit up and prepare to assist Martha and Swann since you know how to handle yourself in zero G.

-----​

"Aye, Cap’n," Martha begins reluctantly moving toward the ship’s locker. A painful memory flashes across her mind’s eye as she reaches for her suit, but she quickly suppresses it and begins preparing to do her job.

-----​

Ian hands his clipboard to Vasilii with a broad grin and reaches for the nearest ship’s comm: "Aye, aye, Captain, I’ll be suited up and at the lock ASAP. I don’t think we need to space the explosives. After all, they are pretty much harmless play–dough without the detonators plugged in. You never know when a big mound of plastique might come in handy. Go ahead and space the detonators. Don’t want them going off unexpectedly. Of course, we could always space ’em a bit later and test the laser on it for a little extra fun."

Ian then thinks, "Some detonators of our own shouldn’t be too hard to come by in a war zone, either." As he leaves the cargo bay, Ian says, "Hey Vasilii, we could always sell the explosive somewhere." "Or use it for fishing on some backwater," Ian thinks.

"I’m sure you would have more uses for the explosives that I would, S.O. McConnell," Vasilii responds. "On a war-torn nation, I’m sure I would be able to find a buyer. You just have to know where to look." With a smile, Vasilii thinks, "Finally, we may make a profit."

"Alright, let’s get to work," Vasilii suggests to Darishun. "We should start with those containers there as they will be inspected first, then we’ll just work from front to rear. Let’s get to it."

-----​

After speaking with Martha and Ian, Argent turns to key the comm, "Bray Keaven to incoming picket, over."

After a moment, a response from the destroyer escort rumbles back, "Ashigaruai is incoming picket lead. Go ahead, Bray Keaven."

"We’d like to do the outside installation of a pulse laser on our port turret while we wait. The engineer got the port turret working again, and we figure that we might need it when we get close to the planet. We’ll do outside installation only, no power connections, no targeting calibrations."

"One moment, Bray Keaven," comes back followed by silence for a few minutes. "Bray Keaven, this is Ashigaruai. Clearance is granted. I have advised the other picket ships. Be advised that powering any weapons or going to active sensors will be treated as hostile actions that will be dealt with lethally. By the way, there’s a good chance you’ll need that port laser: things are getting ugly down there. If you’re headed towards the planet, you can find some debris from ships trying to run without submitting to quarantine at about 40 AUs that can be used to help power and calibration tests. Ashigaruai out."

"That’s comforting," thinks Argent. Keying the internal comm, he announces, "Martha, Swann, and Ian. This is Argent. We have clearance. Don’t even think about doing the power connections or targeting calibrations just yet, though."

Keying the comm again, Argent then hails Seri’s Dagger. "Bray Keaven to Seri’s Dagger, over."

"Seri’s Dagger here. The Marquis is involved in negotiations, so please be brief."

"Be advised that we had a bomb onboard hidden in the cargo that was set to detonate shortly after jump. We disarmed it. We have no evidence of origin or intent other than the bomb was clumsily added to an imaging table after shipment from the factory and before delivery to the ship. We’re transmitting the information that we have now, but it looks like it’s unnecessary if the other ships emerged without problems."

"S***. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about. No other ships have reported anything suspicious, but we’ll transmit your information to them as well. You probably should hold the bomb’s components and give them to the Marines for safe keeping. Thanks for the information, and I’m glad that you’re here in one piece."

"So are we. Bray Keaven out."

-----​

Once all the documents are prepared, Vasilii heads to his stateroom to get some clean clothing on, get washed up and prepare himself for the inspection at 1500 hours. "1500 hours. Sigh," he thinks. "I’ll have to talk to the captain about changing our schedule to a 32–hour clock as opposed to the Terran 24."

-----​

1030 hours.

"Geez, what’s up with the flag? We could use an update over here," Argent thinks to himself as he and Vargas watch the cutters inspecting the ships of the aid fleet. As if on cue, the comm system chimes.

"Seri’s Dagger to Sentry Aid Fleet, this is the Marquis. We have completed our discussions and have some information and plans to share with you." At these words, Argent turns on the internal and suit comms so that the crew can listen in.

"The situation is quite serious as expected. Alief has plague outbreaks in seven countries on the planet’s surface. They range from relatively small outbreaks in a single city to outbreaks covering a wide region. Interestingly, all three of the regional outbreaks are in countries bordering a nation called King George’s Land, but King George’s Land itself is unaffected. King George’s Land has sent troops into the three bordering countries to ‘aid’ their neighbors in this time of crisis. Naturally, there is considerable suspicion that the plague is not a natural occurrence.

"The smaller outbreaks seem to be isolated to four cities, each in a separate country fairly removed from King George’s Land. It is suspected that a traveler got infected and returned to that city from one of the affected regions.

"Panic is spreading in and among the various nations, particularly the affected ones or those bordering the affected ones. A couple of conflicts have broken out among nations that are unaffected over pharmaceutical facilities.

"The Imperial Rules of War prohibit this sort of biological warfare nonsense, and I expect that Imperial forces will eventually come down hard on King George’s Land if and when proof of the use of biological weapons is shown.

"Normally, the local interdiction forces would be plenty to punish this fool of a nation. However, some of the crew of the Juishiaa (the second destroyer escort) and the Wall of Stone (the interdiction tender) had shore leave in one of the affected cities. At this point, the Juishiaa is crewed by a volunteer skeleton crew from the Ashigaruai. The Wall of Stone got a bit luckier: she’s only lost 60 percent of her crew.

"The refueling depot was also decimated. There are now naval personnel running the station. Luckily only two private ships were affected. The depot is still servicing transit ships, but the crews are being run ragged.

"Our situation is good given the speed of the preparations. And, we are lucky to have the Bray Keaven with us because someone planted a bomb onboard. All other ships are double checking their cargoes now and have reported no explosives. We will inform the Sentry Investigation Bureau when we return to Sentry. Until then, we have work to do.

"So, here are the plans. S-19193 will proceed to the refueling depot to assist the naval personnel and provide medical support if needed.

"Seri’s Dagger will assist in the interdiction of Alief.

"Wellorn Light and Relia will proceed to the Wall of Stone to set up a study and treatment facility on the ship. Relia has the elements of a pharmaceutical development facility onboard, so they should be able to manufacture a vaccine if we can get more information.

"Ashorn’s Hope, S-38989, Icsikt, and Bray Keaven will proceed to the planet and assist the nations that have the smaller outbreaks and are uninvolved in fighting King George’s Land. These nations have remained relatively neutral in the past, and are among the more Imperial–friendly nations on the planet. Actual assignments will follow once we complete negotiations.

"All ships, as you complete inspections, proceed towards your stations. A medical report from the surviving medical staff of the Wall of Stone will follow. Good luck to us all. Seri’s Dagger out."

With the last few words hanging in the air, Argent shakes his head, keys the internal comm, and comments: "Well, this ought to be fun."

 

[Broccli_Head]

So was the ship recruited or was this part of the original mission?

 

[DrZombie]

So was the ship recruited or was this part of the original mission?

It was drafted into the mission, i think.

 

[Broccli_Head]

It was drafted into the mission, i think.

I knew it!

Dang Imperials!

 

[Shadowdancer]

When word of the plague reached Sentry, the Marquis rounded up all available ships to use to deliver relief supplies to Alief. The Bray Keaven was one of the ships commandered by the Marquis. It is still on that mission.

In addition, all personnel with the required skills to operate the ships were rounded up at the Sentry starport and pressed into service. The crew onboard the Bray Keaven have barely known each other a week, in game time. The original crew of the ship was killed by the plague. The only survivor was the ship's engineer, Martha, who is still onboard.

 

[Shadowdancer]

1100 hours

In the cargo hold, Darishun looks up from tidying the cargo as the comm chimes, followed by a message on the speakers: "Argent to crew. The current medical officer on the interdiction tender has sent a report on the hemmorrhagic virus. Saro and Darishun will probably want to study it. Everyone else? You will probably at least want to read the first few sections. I’ll put links to the report in your personal inboxes. Argent out."

"Ah, most interesting," Darishun comments to Vasilii. "Please excuse me, I should probably begin studying this report." Darishun finishes tidying the current set of containers, and then plods off towards the lounge to grab a snack and study the report.

To: Sentry Relief Fleet Medical Personnel
From: Lt. Reisha Dedrich, MD, Wall of Stone
Date: 1045-119-993
Subject: Alief Hemmorrhagic Virus Preliminary Report

The Alief Hemorrhagic Virus (henceforth, AHV) is a hemmorrhagic virus that exhibits typical characteristics of hemmorrhagic pathogens but has such a short incubation time and such a high mortality rate that my conclusion is that the virus is not naturally occurring in this form. Local Alief scientists appear to be theorizing that the virus is a weaponized form of the "Prince’s Bleeding" virus, a local hemmorrhagic virus that occasionally affects locally raised rabbits.

The incubation time of the virus appears to be 12 hours from exposure to onset of symptoms. Early symptoms are fever, sluggishness, and coughing. Late stage symptoms are coughing up blood and bleeding. The first bleeding comes from mucous membranes breaking down. Once symptoms start, death occurs 90 percent of the time within an hour. Death rates climb to 99-100 percent within two hours, at least among Imperial personnel. I am unsure of death rates among Alief natives other than the local media are reporting rates approaching at least 95 percent in urban areas.

The virus does appear to be spread by exposure to contaminated body fluids or air. The viral shell does seem to be relatively fragile, and exposure to vacuum for 15 minutes, full spectrum light for an hour, or simple alcohol/bleach does appear to destroy the virus.

The combination of the following standard Imperial antivirals in standard dosages -- Wisulix, Karilic, and Derosium -- administered within 10-12 hours of exposure appears to be effective 75 percent of the time in combating the primary effects of the virus. A significant amount of damage to soft tissue can still occur.

We are not in the possession of a vaccine at this time. I find the fact that King George’s Land seems to be mostly unaffected while surrounding countries are being severely affected to be very curious, and I suspect that they are in possession of a vaccine. The King George’s Land government has denied this accusation.

Scientists in other countries are trying to come up with a vaccine, but have not reported success yet. There appear to be a relatively small quantity of locally available antivirals with any effect once infection has started.

At this point, developing a vaccine is rather problematic as we do not of anyone who has a natural immunity to the virus and our facilities are rather limited onboard the Wall of Stone.

In Appendix A-D of the report are the technical details and detailed observations of crewmembers of the Wall of Stone who succumbed to the virus.

 

[Shadowdancer]

While waiting to hand Martha the next tool she requests, Ian clamps his boots to the outside of the turret and quickly scans the AHV medical report on his data pad.

" ‘Very curious’ my arse," he says after reading the report. "I think someone should just sneak into old Georgie-boys land and raid a hospital. The whole country couldn't be immune unless they had a vaccine and even if they finished vaccinating everyone months ago they’d still have to keep some around for babies, travelers, farmers from the wilderness, etc. Anybody want to volunteer for a little sightseeing trip? Martha, you'd look great in maternity wear!"

"Hmm," he thinks. "It might require a bit of preparation but it's probably feasible. I wonder what we can find out about George's place. Maybe I'll give Sergeant Merriweather a buzz on my next break and trawl for info." As an ex-intelligence officer in the Marines, Ian’s had experience setting up raids of this sort.

Martha glares at him through the visor of her vacc suit. "Hey, Mac, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re either gonna help me with this or you can take your knitting inside where you’ll be more comfortable and I can get some work done." Martha’s voice crackles over the comm link. "Right now, someone else is messing with MY engines, because I’m stuck out here on weapon duty. Now, let’s get this crap done, so I can go fix whatever it is they’ve broken. And what’s the idea of letting your attention drift like that out here," she gestures to the vastness of space, with Alief filling a quarter of the sky above them. "You crazy or something?"

"Sorry guys," Ian says sheepishly. "Yes, I am crazy. Torque wrench with 16mm socket? Coming right up."

Martha turns her attention back to work, making a mental note to discuss the matter with the Captain, AFTER she checks out her engines to make sure that her fellow crewmembers didn’t mess up the delicate engines she’d been coddling for months now.

Swann adjusts the angle of the laser’s barrel and smiles inside his vacc suit. "You tell him, Martha," he thinks to himself. "That crazy Ian wouldn’t have survived one term as a Belter. You lose your concentration like that in the Belts, you don’t come back. At least not alive. His idea about a sneak and peek inside King George's Land has merit, though."

Ian hands over the requested torque wrench and then returns to his musings. "Ah hell," he remembers. "Merriweather was on the Hadrian’s Wall. But, the Wall of Stone sticks in my craw for some reason. Was it Guitierrez? No, he was with the 2333rd Expeditionary Unit on the Quisieras. Which unit is on the Wall of Stone? 4434th Line Regiment, 2nd Battalion, I think. Oh yeah! Corporal. . . no, I guess it's now 2nd Leftenant Flanagan was going to the 4434th. I wonder if he's on the Wall? I'll have to check after I get a break. At this rate, it won’t be until after the inspection. I wonder how he’s. . ."

Martha repeats, for a second time, "IAN! 15mm tensioner! Get your mind back on the job!" and briefly considers throwing the torque wrench at him before remembering that she really likes that wrench.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XIII​

Date: 119-993
Place: Alief System.


The five and a half hours before the inspection team arrives pass by pretty quickly for the crew. Argent remains on the bridge to monitor communications. Darishun helps move the pulse laser into the port cargo lock and then helps Vasilii prepare for inspection until the medical report arrives. Saro spends his time readying the sickbay and studying the report on the hemmorrhagic virus sent by the medical officer on the Wall of Stone. Vargas spends time checking on the jump drives and power plant, and adjusting a few manifolds and lines. Swann, Ian, and Martha manage to complete the external work on the pulse laser after five hours of hard work. They then return inside where Martha immediately goes to check the jump drives and power plants, and undo almost all of Vargas’ adjustments.

In nearby space, the cutters work quickly to inspect the relief fleet bound for the Wall of Stone and Alief while the fighters, close escorts, and destroyer escort keep a watchful eye on the fleet. After each ship is inspected, it lights its drives at max power and heads toward its assigned station.

At 1500 hours, the comm on the bridge crackles to life. "Cutter Picket Delta to Bray Keaven."

"Bray Keaven here, go ahead."

"We are coming alongside for inspection in 10 minutes. Please muster the crew in the hallway near the starboard passenger airlock, and have personal identification papers and cargo manifest ready for inspection. All weapons onboard must be declared and remain in staterooms or in the ship's locker. No weapons are to be carried at any time. We will try to expedite the inspection, but the red zone quarantine remains."

"Understood, Picket Delta. See you soon."

Ten minutes later, with the crew mustered in the corridor near the starboard airlock, an Imperial Navy cutter closes within 100 meters of the Bray Keaven, and four suited figures use thrust packs to cross the space between the cutter and the ship. They expertly jet to a halt and cycle the outside airlock door.

First through the airlock is a hulking suit of battle dress with corporal rank insignia carrying a plasma gun! Wordlessly, the hulking figure tromps pass Vargas, who is standing closest to the bridge, and takes up station blocking the entrance to the bridge (and, coincidentally, putting itself in a position to fire down the corridor, through most of the crew, and probably through the drives). The smoky black of a darkened faceplate firmly damps any thoughts of chitchat with Plasma Hulk.

"Jeez, plasma guns on a ‘friendly’ interdiction inspection? What's going on
here," Argent thinks.

The next figures through the airlock are two Marines in combat armor, with somewhat more sensible arms: gauss carbines. Ian notes approvingly that the gunnery sergeant’s combat armor (Tanaka, by the nameplate) is rather aged and not spit polish sharp, but well maintained. The sergeant’s and private’s faceplates are clear, and the faces appear tired, but alert.

Finally, the smallest figure of them all clears the airlock. This suit of armor almost gleams of polish, and the second lieutenant bars appear to be newly applied. Instead of a gauss carbine, the figure carries a naval gauss pistol on its right hip. The faceplate remains darkened, and a tinny male voice squeaks out of the suit’s speakers at loud volume, "Alright. I’m Lieutenant Berisul, Imperial Marines. Let’s do this inspection by the numbers.

"Who is in charge of this tub?" the figure adds, his hands on his hips.

"I’m the acting captain," replies Argent. "Naval Leftenant Argent, retired."

"Alright! Let’s head to the bridge to inspect your ship’s logs. Sergeant, you’re in charge of checking papers and cargo inspections! Execute!"

With that, the Marine lieutenant marches towards the bridge. There is a bit of dancing about while the lieutenant tries to squeeze by Plasma Hulk Marine, who apparently couldn't quite move over enough to let the lieutenant easily by. Oddly enough, Plasma Hulk Marine seems to straighten and let Argent by smoothly. Once Argent passes, Plasma Hulk Marine returns to a guard position, and the face plate lightens to reveal a surprisingly attractive female face with an amused smirk that is quickly tamped out.

Once the bridge doors shut behind Lt. Berisul and Argent, the sergeant shakes his head ever so slightly and then asks in a conversational tone, "I sincerely hope that your captain doesn’t keep any obscene photos in the computer system. Lt. Berisul will be checking every nook and cranny of your computer system in order to find and inspect them carefully. So, who are you people and what do you have to declare?"

Glancing in the direction of the Marine Lieutenant’s retreat, Ian gives a quick grin to Plasma Hulk Marine and steps forward in a crisp ex-Marine like fashion.

"Yes. Well, I guess I’ll start: I’m Ian McConnell. Like most of us here I’m just along to help out any way I can. I’m sure I can speak for all of us in offering you our condolences for your recent losses.

"Like you, we wish this inspection to go smoothly, and I believe we have everything in order so that we can get on with our mercy mission, and you can get some rest ASAP.

"I have the following personal weapons in the ship's locker: One stungun, one cutlass, one combat knife, and one gauss pistol. Here are my papers and the permit for the gauss weapon," concludes Ian.

As the gunny scans the papers, his eyes widen briefly, and he snaps to attention followed, after a brief heartbeat, by the other two marines. "Captain McConnell, sir!" he barks.

Ian smiles and replies, "At ease, Gunny. I'm retired now."

"That’s only because the Corps doesn’t sent you a paycheck now, sir."

Ian then adds, conversationally, "True. By the way, do you still have a Mr. Flanagan on board the Wall of Stone, Sergeant? He might be a Second-looey by now, I guess?"

Sergeant Tanaka’s face clouds for a moment before he replies, "Not anymore, sir. Gunny Shirigaa spoke very highly of him, sir. Said that he learned a bit more polish and smoothness from his old intel officer in the 5677th than most new second lieutenants, even if they come up from the ranks. Were you in the 5677th, sir?"

At Ian’s nod, Tanaka continues, "Lieutenant Flanagan was in Alpha Company, and the plague that hit the Stoney started there, sir. Damn pissant locals. Too stupid to know that bioweps are like nuclear hand grenades, and little else tends to call down as much ortillery from the fleet as a pissant who tries to use them.

"But I’m wandering a bit, sir. Perhaps we could chat some more after introductions?"

 

[Shadowdancer]

With that, Gunnery Sergeant Tanaka turns to the rest of the crew and listens attentively while they introduce themselves. The second marine in combat armor, PFC Sanderson, by the nameplate and rank insignia, takes notes on his electronic pad as each indicates weapons.

Following Ian’s introduction and brief conversation with the inspector, Martha presents her papers. "Martha Smythe, Starship Technician, Class Two, board certified in electronics, engineering, gravitics, mechanics, and sensor operations. Also certified as a Class One Pilot by ISA standards. I’ve got a snub pistol in the locker."

The engineer stands by quietly as the inspector looks over her papers, trying not to fidget. Most of her training was at the hands of an older engineer with a predilection toward causing trouble in every startown, and his wariness of authority figures carried over to Martha as a general sense of nervousness when confronting them. Her record is fairly clean for a 22–year–old trader–tech, but she still gets nervous whenever an enforcer asks her for her papers.

As the Marine sergeant finishes with Martha, Swann steps forward.

"My name is Swann Hellinic. I’m the ship’s electrician and computer operator as well as one of the gunners. Here are my papers. I have some weapons to declare, all locked in a box in the ship’s locker. I have an automatic pistol, a snub pistol, a submachine gun, a shotgun, an accelerator rifle and a gauss rifle. Also in the box is ammunition for each weapon, as well as a blade and a cutlass."

Swann remains calm, having gone through such searches more times than he could remember. Or cared to. "As long as they don’t search my cabin, I’m OK," he thinks. "And as long as they don’t search the fuel processors, we’re all OK."

Vargas steps forward to present his papers. "Sergeant, Emile Vargas, former Scout and now, supplimentary engineer and bridge crew. I've got a pistol and a shotgun stowed in my cabin. And this is Rusti." As he says this he indicates the beaker sitting on his shoulder. "Nice to meet you . . . all of you in fact." This last comment seems more directed toward Risa than anyone else.

When the Marine reaches him, Doc presents his hand comp and nods curtly, "Sergeant. I am Doctor Saro Talbek, currently acting as the ship’s doctor. In addition to my medical drugs, supplies, and equipment you see listed on my hand comp, I have a snub pistol and some tranq ammo in the ship’s locker."

Doc warily keeps an eye on the Marines as they conduct their inspection, having met too many Army and Marine troopers who were a little too quick on the trigger for his taste.

The Marine in the battle dress, Lance Corporal Obutu, reflexively starts to bring her plasma gun to bear as Darishun (a bit too large to be immediately in the area of the airlock) pokes his massive head around the corner in order to introduce himself. This movement taps out Vargas’ tentative attempts to catch the blonde’s eye in order to start flirting. "Uh gunny, there seems to be something loo. . ."

Darishun smiles, which evidently isn’t comforting since Obutu brings the plasma gun fully to bear, and says, "Greetings gunnery sergeant and Marines. Please do not be alarmed. I just thought that I should introduce myself since I could not fit into the corridor with the others. I am Darishun, this ship’s medic and general cargo assistant. I have a rifle in my stateroom. I would be happy to help in any way to expedite this process since it is imperative that we place ourselves in a position to help the victims on Alief as soon as possible."

Tanaka holds out a hand palm down to Obutu and says, "It’s OK, Risa. He's a Virushi, and they’re generally pacifists until really pushed. He’s not going to jump you, though if he did, I’m not sure that the plasma gun would stop him, at least not on the first shot." Obutu lowers the gun, but still looks very wary.

Once introductions and declarations are complete, Tanaka speaks. "Thank you for your declarations and papers. Obutu and Sanderson will now have to verify your weapons and do some spot checks on your cargo in order to keep Berisul happy. You’d think that he’d lighten up a bit for the Marquis’ helpers, but since the Marquis isn’t here, I can’t skimp too much, even if you’re trying help.

"I do note that you've got a missile launcher listed as part of your cargo."

At this, Martha shakes herself out of being intimidated and only somewhat meekly says, "That’s ours, sir! I had to uninstall it when the port turret went out, but the ship’s logs have. . ."

Tanaka smiles and holds up a hand: "I understand that, ma’am. I was going to say that you might need that missile launcher installed before you hit the planet. Well, that and I need to warn you all that the interdiction fleet policy that if you come back missing any of your ship’s weaponry, the ship gets seized and sold as a prize. Apparently, the policy started after a few enterprising merchants landed and sold off their ships’ weaponry before leaving. Oh, and it’s 'Gunny' or 'Sergeant’ since I work for a living, not like some people," nodding in the direction of the bridge.

"Now, as far the explosives. Normally, we’d have to seize that as contraband. But, seeing as they’re just mining explosives and you never know if you might need it on Alief, I’m afraid that Sanderson forgot to note it on his pad." At this, Sanderson can be seen furiously hitting a few keys before blandly looking at his gunny.

Nodding at Vasilii, Tanaka concludes with, "Sir? Would you please show Lance Corporal Obutu and PFC Sanderson the ship’s locker and cargo hold?" He turns back to Ian, "Captain McConnell, sir? Perhaps we could go someplace to chat while my Marines finish the inspection?"

Ian nods, "Yes, why don’t we go relax in the lounge upstairs. The drink dispenser has been upgraded, but I’m afraid that I can only offer Marine ratpacks as snacks."

"A drink would be welcome, sir, if I could, but given the snack selection, I am glad that our current inspection procedures require they remain sealed up," Tanaka replies with a grin.

At this, the group breaks up. The two junior marines go with Vasilii, Saro, and Darishun to inspect the cargo hold, ship’s locker, and sickbay, with Martha trailing in case they want to go near her precious drives.

Gunny Tanaka, Ian, Swann, and Vargas go upstairs to the lounge.